As part of their continued Corporate Social Responsibility, Kgalagadi Breweries Limited (KBL) donated oxygen concentrators and pulse oximeters valued at P 1.2 million to the Ministry of Health and Wellness in Gaborone recently.
In his remarks the Managing Director of KBL, Mr Carlos Bernitt indicated that they continually seek opportunities to invest in communities they serve as they believe that they can only thrive when their communities grow. He said that the donation which includes, a second consignment of 50 10-L oxygen concentrators and 600 pulse oximeters will go a long way in assisting front liners to provide quality critical care services to the more severe cases in the fight against COVID-19.
Bernitt asserted that, KBL has contributed immensely to the COVID-19 pandemic response through various initiatives such as, opening two vaccination sites which vaccinated approximately 10’500 people, 24000L of sanitizer to Government and PPE packs as well as social media campaigns encouraging Batswana to vaccinate among others. He further urged Batswana to continue to follow all COVID-19 health precautions.
Appreciating the donation at the handover ceremony, the Minister of Health, Dr Edwin Dikoloti applauded KBL for this generous gesture and indicated that the donation will be very beneficial as COVID-19 enters the fifth wave in Botswana. Dr Dikoloti said that as government they recognize this consistent generous gesture by KBL and highlights that they have pledged medical equipment and personal protective equipment to his ministry before.
Furthermore, he added that this donation came at an opportune time as the fifth wave is characterized by increased positive cases and notable fatalities. As such this has the potential to be a burden to the health system as numbers of cases keep on rising.
“This medical equipment will help improve provision of critical healthcare services for the more severe cases for which we are immensely grateful. Over and above, this most recent donation KBL continues to offer its Gaborone Chibuku facility as a COVID-19 data collection and vaccination centre,” he said.
Dr Dikoloti encouraged all eligible Batswana to utilize these vaccination centres to go receive their booster dose which he said is of concern as vaccination rates have dropped. He concluded by acknowledging the effort which was displayed by KBL when they helped in initiating a vaccination drive-thru in Francistown. This campaign attracted a lot of people in the northern part of Botswana who came to be jabbed. He said the purposeful and benevolent gesture shows their continuous support to the government’s effort in the fight against COVID-19.